This is a paid piece from the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation.

Simplified: Lunch is Served has been packing brown-bag lunches for the working poor of Sioux Falls since 2007. As they move into the new year, they're hoping the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation's Giving Depot can help them connect with more sustaining donors.

Why it matters

  • It only takes a $10 donation to provide lunch for one person for an entire week, according to Executive Director Kathy Junker.
  • Lunch is Served delivers about 28,000 lunches each week at various stops including HireQuest, the Banquet, the St. Francis House, Call to Freedom and more. That number is up 8,000 from last year, an increase Junker attributes to the rising costs of food.
  • The nonprofit has a number of partnerships that supply various food items, lunch bags, etc., but the organization is looking to use the Giving Depot to help connect with more individual donors. The hope is to find folks who would be willing to contribute monthly.
"The Community Foundation is so wonderful at promoting Lunch is Served, getting the awareness, helping find people to donate," Junker said. "Because if you haven't needed a lunch, you might not have heard of Lunch is Served."

Tell me more about Lunch is Served

The nonprofit packs lunches every Monday and Wednesday at the Emmanuel Baptist Church on East 12th Street. Then, those meals are delivered to various businesses and organizations who give them to people who need them.

In order to receive a Lunch is Served lunch, a person must prove they are working. This includes day labor jobs, Junker said.

The nonprofit relies on volunteer groups to pack the lunches, which include a meat and cheese sandwich, pudding cup, chips, granola bar, cookies, a spoon, a napkin and an inspirational note.

  • Lunch is Served also has a "Volunteer To Go" option, in which a group can pick up a tote of lunch bags to stamp and get ready to be filled.

The organization also relies on donors to help cover the costs of foods which aren't already donated – an amount that's been rising in recent years – though Junker stressed that "a little goes a long way."

"We do one thing, and we do it well," she said.

Tell me more about the Giving Depot

It's a one-stop shop to learn about the various needs of nonprofits throughout the Sioux Falls community.

  • Eligible nonprofits can submit information through a form on the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation website.
  • Listings are updated frequently, and at any given time there are about 50 or 60 opportunities to give.

You can browse The Giving Depot here.

  • Then, when you find a need that resonates with you, simply click "how you can help," and you'll be directed to the organization's website with details on how to donate.
“The Giving Depot is full of good people doing great work, and at the Community Foundation, we want to make giving easy,” said Patrick Gale, vice president of community investment.

Gale noted there are hundreds of nonprofits in the Sioux Falls area. The Giving Depot provides not only a free way for them to share the good work they do, but a way for people to discover new opportunities to give.

“You never know what will spark someone’s interest,” Gale said.

Learn more here about Lunch is Served and how you can help support their mission.